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"Boss, twelve meat buns, three shumai, and two cups of soy milk."

"The vehicle is departing. Please hold on and stay seated. Passengers who have just boarded, please move toward the rear..."

Jicheng No. 5 Middle School lay in the north of Jicheng—a relatively remote area. Most of its students boarded there, so whenever there was a day off, Jiang Shu had to squeeze onto the bus alongside a crowd of classmates.

But today, the bus was unusually empty.

Through the window, Jiang Shu looked back at the school.

Xuanxing's cultural and technological development was comparable to that of his previous life, almost like another parallel world of Earth Star.

Jiang Shu became even more convinced that this world was not as peaceful and simple as it appeared.

What was the truth hidden behind it?

Perhaps he would only learn it after fully stepping into the realm of Martial Dao and raising his social standing to a certain level.

Holding a Horse Stance, Jiang Shu half-squatted over his seat, digesting the buns, shumai, and soy milk already in his stomach as he emptied his mind.

Perhaps because it was still the tenth day of the first lunar month, there were not many cars on the streets.

The bus barely encountered any traffic and reached the terminal in just forty or fifty minutes. Jiang Shu transferred to another bus, then closed his eyes and meditated for another hour before arriving at the stop nearest his home.

What had once felt like a long, grueling journey now seemed like nothing at all when he calmed his mind and practiced martial arts.

He got off with his luggage and raised his eyes to the familiar sights.

Beneath a sky as clear as a vast azure jade, several villages lay scattered in orderly rows, while a four-lane road stretched on without end.

Ahead was a century-old mountain village that had been developed into a tourist attraction.

Behind him was Jicheng's urban district, bustling with traffic and prosperity.

This was the south of Jicheng, where the Bi River wound around green mountains. It was a densely populated area, with many outsiders and many elderly residents.

Qingjiang Garden.

An old resettlement complex built in the early 2000s, its buildings packed extremely close together. Below them, several private cars that had not been washed in ages were wedged into every available gap.

301.

After climbing the stairs, Jiang Shu took out his key and opened the door. A wave of warm air met him head-on.

"Our station reports that First Leader recently visited Shengjing Academy for an inspection and delivered an important speech: students of the present age need more new faces."

The living room at home was not large. Jiang Yan Yue lounged without the slightest concern for appearances on the over-two-meter-long sofa, legs crossed, basking in the warm breeze from the air conditioner as she crunched loudly through a bag of chips.

Before the sofa stood a sixty-five-inch LCD television, playing a rebroadcast of yesterday's news.

"Why aren't you watching your food channel today?"

"What else could I do? My big brother is planning to become a martial arts student. As his little sister, how could I not properly learn about it?"

Hearing Jiang Shu return, Jiang Yan Yue stretched lazily. Holding a red envelope, she rose and turned toward him as naturally as could be.

She was tall, one meter sixty-eight, with round, straight legs wrapped in pure white cotton pants above her fluffy slippers.

Unlike her utterly ordinary brother, Jiang Yan Yue had always been someone else's model child.

In elementary school, she entered essay-writing and math Olympiad competitions, winning several awards in Jicheng's urban district. In middle school, her grades had never fallen below the top three in her year. At the end of last term, she had even been admitted early to Ji City First High School, without needing to worry about entrance exams like ordinary students.

"I thought you'd catch up with your classmates at school and not come back until tonight."

Seeing her brother approach, she handed him the red envelope she had prepared long ago.

"Here. The lucky money I painstakingly saved up—eight hundred in total." Jiang Yan Yue patted Jiang Shu's shoulder with the air of an old hand. "Poor scholars, rich warriors. These eight hundred are your little sister's greatest support for you!"

"And besides, if you can learn martial arts, then learn. If you don't want to someday, once your little sis starts a business, you can be your sister's bodyguard! As long as President Jiang has a bite of ribs to eat, you, Jiang Shu, will have a sip of soup!"

"You're nuts!"

Jiang Shu knocked away Jiang Yan Yue's hand and rapped his sister on the head without any mercy.

Yet what he felt beneath his hand was not her scalp, but soft pomelo peel.

"Hey! I told you there was definitely something to learn online, didn't I? This bun I pinned onto a pomelo-peel cap is high and full. Not only does it make my whole head smell like pomelo, it can even prevent sneak attacks!"

Jiang Yan Yue hurriedly stepped back, lifting her chin proudly. Then, suddenly, she gave Jiang Shu a puzzled look and stepped forward again, moving her hand horizontally from the top of her own head to Jiang Shu's nose.

"Ahhh! Jiang Shu! Did you secretly grow taller behind my back again?! When I measured last time, you were only a tiny bit taller than me!"

"Childish! And you call yourself a top student? You don't even understand the simple fact that practicing martial arts makes you grow taller."

"Tch. With my perfect height, do I need to practice martial arts? I'm not sure whether it makes you taller, but it definitely makes you eat more. One rice bucket in this family is enough."

"Aren't you one too?"

Jiang Shu glanced sideways at the sofa, where bags of every kind of snack had already stuffed the trash can full.

"Pah! I'm a gourmet! A devoted food lover! I'm not like you, a rice bucket who can wolf down five bowls of white rice after eating a few pieces of meat!" Jiang Yan Yue gritted her teeth. "But why can you eat so much and not get fat? I'm so jealous, waaaah."

"You could practice martial arts too. Did Mom and Dad say when they'd be back?"

"Get up before five like you and stand in a stance? If I could get up at five, I could've just read some books and skipped a grade to become your senior two years ago, you know!"

"I believe you."

Jiang Shu nodded. He had never doubted his sister's intelligence. They had played together when they were little, yet their academic performances had been as far apart as heaven and earth.

"Mom said she needs to bring in a shipment today, and she'll come back once it arrives. Dad's less certain, but he said he'll definitely be home before ten."

Jiang Shu's mother, Xu Lizhi, had first worked at a clothing factory. After the factory closed down, she gritted her teeth and used the family savings to open a clothing store. By now, it had been in business for more than a decade.

At first, she rose before dawn and returned after dark, making a bit of money. But the economic climate had been poor these past few years and business had been sluggish, so whenever the children were home, she chose to close early and return to spend time with them.

Jiang Shu's father, Jiang Yongyi, had lost his job in middle age. He traded in the family's old gas guzzler for an electric car and began driving for Didi. He did not earn much, but the work was free and he did not have to put up with much aggravation.

"Jiang Shu, the times may really be changing. I deliberately watched the rebroadcast of the news today and found that, for the past two months, almost every day's news mentioned martial arts practice. What good does practicing martial arts actually do? In this day and age, no matter how superb your skills are, can you block bullets?"

Jiang Yan Yue could not help asking.

Though she was highly intelligent, she was still young and had not yet left school. The knowledge she had learned was often absolute, black or white.

That made it easiest for her to fall into the barriers of her own understanding, unable to comprehend the wondrousness of Martial Dao.

"It preserves your youth."

Jiang Shu kept it brief. He knew exactly what to say to what kind of person.

For someone like his sister, telling her that martial arts strengthened Blood Qi, broke through human limits, and extended Lifespan was meaningless.

Even if he told her that at high levels, martial skill could evade gunfire, she would only think it was nothing special.

You could dodge bullets, but could you dodge missiles?

But preserving one's youth...

Three words. Instant kill!

Sure enough, the moment Jiang Shu finished speaking—

Jiang Yan Yue froze. Beneath her long lashes, her bright eyes widened into perfect circles, filled with suspicion. Then, when she saw Jiang Shu nod firmly once again, she suddenly jumped up.

"Brother! Teach me the Horse Stance!"